Incarceration and Reentry

I have spent the past four years working as a forensic social worker, which included providing clinical services for incarcerated individuals and their families and advocating for lesser and/or alternative sentencing. I have a solid understanding of the legal system, incarcerated life, and the challenges of reentry. I am passionate about helping individuals and families navigate the specific challenges to incarceration and reentry.

As a clinician, I worked for 2 years with AB109 probationers to reintegrate back into the community after spending various lengths in time in our jail/prison system. I have also run groups in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility focusing on preparation for what was to come. I love to instill hope and build upon strengths to remind individuals that they are important and can make desired life changes.

Volunteering with court-involved people for more than a decade is how I came to the field of therapy, and I continue to love supporting people who are caught up in these massive systems of control. Mass incarceration has traumatized communities and families, and continues to do so every day. I work closely with attorneys to provide context for how trauma impacts court-involvement, and am also happy to provide psychological evaluations for court-involved persons at an attorney or judge's request.

I worked for 5 years helping people transition from incarceration to life on the outside. The reentry process is not a joke! But together we can wade through the steps of rebuilding your life with hope and confidence.

Incarceration trauma is real. For those who were incarcerated and navigating re-entry, a mix of emotions may flood in and out leaving us feeling out of control. For families of incarcerated loved ones, your trauma is real too. Being separated from your partner, child, or parent causes us to grieve our lost one. While re-entry may be an answer to prayers, the actual process of reuniting is not always what we imagined. Integration is possible, let's work together to find healing.

For many years I worked primarily focused on reentry for offenders coming out of prison. I help individuals process through many years of suppressed emotions and the emotions that surface upon a huge change of going from the inside to being on the outside. I show them that life can have purpose and meaning and their past does not have to define their future. Creating safe, non-judgmental, space is key to being able to feel safe and trust in a world that has turned it's back on one.

I enjoy helping those that are struggling from zero. Having nothing and starting life from scratch seems tough. I know it is a rut to get out of and start fresh without baggage. Bag and baggage is when to go home and get out of jail to the outside world feeling numb and adjusting to society seems like a party. Rules that don't apply to us and wanting o do the whole world appears easy. Thinking, behavior, and consequences are the key.

Many of our clinicians have experience and training working with individuals involved in with the justice system both while incarcerated and while in the community.

Prison is a unique experience and the people impacted deserve to have a provider who knows what changes happen to a person when they have gone through incarceration. Learning how to deprogram from the skills that helped you survive prison is important if you want to be successful in the free world. People who have a loved one who is involved in the criminal justice system also deserve a provider that knows that system and how to cope effectively.

I have spent many years working with justice impacted men on issues ranging from emotional regulation, addiction recovery, to self-esteem building and healthy relationship skills. I understand the role that childhood trauma plays in the decisions that may have led to the lifestyle that led to incarceration. And I understand the trauma that is inflicted on individuals and their families once they are justice involved.

Former contractor with Federal probation/pretrial services - provided individual, couples, family, and group counseling to individuals re-entering society following a period of Federal incarceration ranging from 1-25+ years. Worked with pretrial clients preparing for sentencing and surrender. Experience with clients with wide range of criminal histories from white-collar crimes, racketeering, to sex offenses.